Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Kent, UK-based producer Draper can trace the origins of his prolific and critically acclaimed music career in a rather humble fashion — initially as his experimenting with sound recording software, largely based around pairing a densely layered production with an uncanny knack for lyricism. With the release of attention grabbing remixes of Strange Talk, Ellie Goulding and Passion Pit, and the 2010 release of his debut EP, The Introduction, the British producer saw a rapidly growing national and international profile — at one point, he captured the attention of Turn First Music Publishing where Draper would write singles for Lapsley, Rita Ora and Little Mix.

Now, you might recall that last year I wrote about “On You,” the first single off the producer’s highly-anticipated full-length album, and that single, a collaboration with his frequent collaborator Alby Hobbs was a densely layered and swooning pop song consisting of wobbling, low pitched synths, skittering percussion, swirling electronics and rubbery, high pitched synths paired with Hobbs’ meandering yet soulful falsetto to craft a song that effortlessly meshes bouncy club-friendly electro pop with sensual and soulful R&B. While we’re anxiously awaiting Draper’s full-length effort, the British producer has remained incredibly prolific, releasing a number of singles including his latest single “Break Over You,” a collaboration with Scottish synth pop trio Prides — and what makes the single interestingly is that it reveals that Draper has been experimenting and expanding upon his sound, as “Break Over You” is a euphoric pop confection with the sort of anthemic hooks reminiscent of St. Lucia, Phoenix, Passion Pit and others. It’s arguably the most rousingly crowd pleasing and radio-friendly single Draper has released to date. (Interestingly, the song lyrically seems to make a sly reference to one of my favorite Prince songs ever, “I Will Die 4 U,” which is also quite an anthemic pop song itself.)

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

According to an old Swedish legend, a traveling witch doctor and her disciples were led to Korpilombolo, a tiny and extremely remote Northern Swedish village by a Sami traveller. The reasons why that Sami traveller may have decided to lead the witch doctor to a remote, Northern Swedish village has been lost to history — these things happen after all — but strangely enough, within Korpilombolo, the practice of voodoo quickly became common and continued unabated and fairly unnoticed for several centuries. During the time of the Crusaders, the Catholic Church had discovered that heretical and non-Christian practices were occurring in the tiny and remote Northern Swedish village, and a small band of Crusaders were sent to burn the villagers out and the village down. Whoever survived returned when it was safe, rebuilt their village and have since continued to practice voodoo.

Reportedly, the rather mysterious and masked collective GOAT hails from Korpilombolo — and a great deal of their work thematically and aesthetically draws influence from voodoo, spirit conjuring, psychedelia and other practices. And although little is generally known about the collective, they quickly built up a national profile across Sweden. In a series of coincidences that could only seem to happen in the age of the Internet, the band signed to renowned indie label Sub Pop Records, who released the act’s sophomore full-length effort, Commune and a couple of 7 inches to critical acclaim internationally. Last year, the collective’s “It’s Time For Fun”/”Relax” 7 inch was written while  in their native Sweden but recorded in the Americas —   A side single “It’s Time For Fun” recorded here in NYC, while B side single “Relax” was recorded in Sao Paulo — and had the act expanding and experimenting with their sound through the use of synths and drum programming that pushed their sound towards a trippy world music-leaning post-punk similar to Talking Heads.

The Northern Swedish collective’s forthcoming “I Sing In Silence”/”The Snake of Addis Ababa” 7 inch is slated for a May 27 release through Sub Pop Records and their latest effort  reveals that the act is continually expanding upon and experimenting with their sound — this time going completely acoustic as a gorgeous and fluttering flute line is paired with a shuffling and elastic guitar line, gently propulsive drumming and chanted vocals as you’ll hear on the A side single “I Sing In Silence.” And interestingly enough, the single strikes me as sounding as though it’s heavily indebted to early prog rock — in particular think of Yes’ “Roundabout“–  and psych rock as “I Sing In Silence” possesses a similar trippy and expansive vibe.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the course of the six year history of this site, Berlin, Germany-based producer, electronic music artist, DJ and Boys Noize Records label head Alex Ridha, best known as Boys Noize has become one of this site’s earliest mainstay artists; in fact, his Out of the Black landed at number 8 on the site’s Best of List back in 2012. And since then, Ridha has been remarkably prolific as she’s collaborated in musical projects with internationally recognized mega-hit producer, electronic music artist and DJ Skillex and renowned pianist, composer, experimental pop artist and emcee Chilly Gonzales. Additionally, his label recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with a series of collaborative efforts featuring the work of a number of up-and-coming and renowned contemporary electronic music artists and producers including Tiga, Johnny Sack, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Atom TM, Pilo SCNTST and others.

Earlier this year, Ridha released “Overthrow,” a single that revealed the German producer, electronic music artist and DJ has expanded upon his signature sound — in this case, glitchy and chopped up samples, tweeter and woofer rattling bass and beats and enormous drops were paired with industrial clang and clatter and ominously swirling electronics in a song that stomped, strutted, swaggered and threw a vicious haymaker or two. “Euphoria,” which was released last month, sounded as though it drew from the legendary house music pioneer Larry Levan as a looped vocal sample was paired with skittering and propulsive drum programming and glitchy keyboard keys in a song that evoked a woozy rush of blood to the head. “Starchild,” a collaboration with indie electro pop sensation Poliça pairs vocalist Channy Leaneagh’s sultry and plaintive vocals with glitchy and stuttering beats, gentle cascades of twinkling and shimmering synths in what may arguably be Ridha’s moodiest and most pop-leaning single he’s released to date.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check Out This Live Studio Footage of John Carpenter Performing “Distant Dream”

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the better part of the past year, the renowned director, screenwriter, producer, editor and composter John Carpenter has quickly become a mainstay artist after last year’s critically and commercially successful album […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last month, I wrote about Brooklyn-based shoegaze duo The Blessed Isles. Comprised of Aaron Closson (guitar and vocals), best known as a member of The Hourly Radio and multi-instrumentalist Nolan Thies, best known as a member of N?TIONS, the duo of Closson and Thies specialize in a sound that is heavily indebted to New Wave, synth pop and shoegaze — and as you would have heard on “Caroline,” the first single off their long-awaited full-length effort Straining Hard Against the Strength of Night, and on the album’s second and latest single “Confession” their sound in particular seems to be influenced by New Order, Slowdive and Cocteau Twins as the duo pairs Closson’s plaintive vocals with shimmering delay pedal fed guitar chords, propulsive boom-bap 808s, and ambient-like synths to craft a swooning and introspective song with an urgently anthemic pulse. However, interestingly enough “Confession” strikes me as being the most New Order-influenced song down to the guitar solo the song’s swooning urgency.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

As I’ve frequently mentioned on this site, I’m often multitasking while listening to singles on Soundcloud and as a result I’ve often (and serendipitously) discovered new artists that have caught my attention — including this Phife Dawg/A Tribe Called Quest/Earth, Wind and Fire tribute track “Earth Wind and Phifer” by New York-based producer and remixer Jewbei that features Phife rhyming over a chopped up Earth Wind and Fire sample with boom bap beats — and it’s done in a such a warm, organic fashion that it channels J. Dilla‘s legendary and beloved production.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last Friday marked the 32nd anniversary of Marvin Gaye‘s tragic and untimely death — while Saturday would have marked Gaye’s 77th birthday. Recently as a tribute to Marvin Gaye’s incredible influence on contemporary music, Counterweight Records‘ producer and DJ, DJ Devastate and self-professed synth guru Segerfalk went to Analog Sweden‘s studio to record a rework and re-imagining of Gaye’s beloved classic song “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” that DJ Devastate and Segerfalk have titled “Do You Cry?” And the rework pairs DJ Devastate and Segerfalk’s boom-bap beat heavy production featuring twinkling synths and swirling electronics with Marvin Gaye’s iconic and silky smooth vocals — this time as the song’s hook and chorus — along with guest spots from Joe Lefty and Chapee.

Simliar to  Red Hot + Fela, the Fela Kuti tribute album featuring reworked and reimagined songs from Kuti’s enormous catalog, DJ Devastate, Segerfalk, Joe Lefty and Chapee’s tribute to Marvin Gaye manages to be more than just a fresh take on a song that several generations have been intimately familiar with for quite some time, it’s an adept meshing of hip-hop and classic soul that should remind listeners of Gaye’s how much Gaye and his peers have influenced contemporary music. But perhaps much more important, this rework should remind folks — especially those who were too young to remember when he was alive — of the fact that Marvin was a vital and sensual presence you had to pay attention to.